A comparison of the utility of five methods of time sampling

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Linda Katherine Swetlow (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Rosemery Nelson

Abstract: The present study was concerned with assessing the reliability, representativeness, and utility of a sequential method of intermittent time sampling. This new approach to taking a time sampling of behaviors involved having one observer track two or four behaviors, one category of behavior per interval, with the particular behavior to be tracked during an interval varied systematically between intervals. This sequential approach to observation was compared to other methods of time sampling involving tracking one, two, or four categories of behavior per interval in a continuous fashion. The observation methods were compared in terms of reliability, representativeness, and practicality for use by the clinician. The reliability of a particular observation method was assessed in terms of how closely two observers recording the same material using that method would agree on what had transpired during the recording session. Representativeness was assessed in terms of how well these observational records represented what had transpired during the observation period as represented by the frequencies of behavior generated by using the method. Practicality or utility was assessed in terms of how useful a particular method would be for the clinician, given its degree of reliability and representativeness.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 1976
Subjects
Observation (Psychology)
Human behavior $x Research

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